THINK TANK MEASURES QUALITY OF LIFE IN S.D.

San Diego County’s air quality, economy and renewable energy use showed improvement, but there are shortfalls in the region’s water quality and transportation systems, according to a new report.

The Equinox Center, a small nonpartisan think tank in Encinitas, on Thursday released its fourth annual “Dashboard” report, which analyzed 14 benchmarks to compare San Diego County’s quality of life in 2011 with those of other communities, and with its own performance in previous years.

Of the 14 economic and environmental categories measured by statistical analysis, eight were trending up, three were down, one was unchanged and two had no previous data for comparison.

In 2011, the county met federal emission standards for ozone for the first time, the report noted. But it still failed to meet standards for particulate pollution from autos.

Although air quality in San Diego is markedly better than that of Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, with just 13 unhealthy air days for older adults and children in 2011, it fell short of San Francisco, which recorded just one unhealthy air day, and San Mateo, with none.

The remaining air quality problems tie into the county’s transportation system, the report said.

About 3 percent of San Diegans commuted to work on trains or buses, the study found, compared with more than 6 percent in both Los Angeles and Portland.

And while Los Angeles has long been known as car capital of the country, San Diego beat it on highway vehicle miles traveled, with residents logging an average of 13.7 miles per day, compared with 10.7 in L.A.

That is likely caused by the nature of the region’s housing, the Equinox Center pointed out.

More than half of San Diego homeowners and renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, the report stated. That percentage dropped a few points from the previous year, but was still behind other California communities.

With much of the region’s affordable housing located away from business centers, many workers have long commutes, said Equinox spokeswoman Sarah Benson.

The good news is that work opportunities are slowly rising, the report stated. For the first time in three years, San Diego saw an employment uptick of more than 14,000 jobs in 2011. Nonetheless, that number didn’t keep pace with population growth.

“The growth rate of the working-age population increased more than the growth rate of employment, indicating a still sluggish economy,” the report stated.

And with an economy deeply tied to the ocean, the increase in beach closures and advisories, up to 595 in 2011 — compared with 533 in 2010 and just 176 in 2000 — marks a cause for concern.